Pages

Tuesday, 22 May 2018

Adventures in Stockport

A couple of weeks ago, I ended up with an impromptu day to myself in Stockport. What did I do with my day? Why, discovering new food, of course!

I started off at Owl's Nest, a not-for-profit Harry Potter themed cafe, with gift shop next door (called Hoot). They don't really have any vegan options but I was chatting to the lady in the shop next door and she recommended trying the butterbeer without cream, as she was vegan herself. I asked in the cafe whether they had any vegan cakes and they said not yet, but they were planning to start selling some soon! The butterbeer was nice but very very sweet, and pretty pricey for what was essentially a pint of pop. If they got some vegan cream in though, it might be worth the price! It was good for the novelty value though!

Next up was The Maker's Market, which was a lovely collection of stalls ranging from food to alcohol to crafts. I managed to find quite a few vegan treats here!

I even managed to find some vegan, cruelty free skin care from Man Polish for Mr Hatter!

By the time I had finished strolling around the market, it was lunch time. I headed over to Withington to visit somewhere I have been drooling over on Instagram for such a long time... Boho Utopia!

This is such a cute little cafe. It has a lovely atmosphere and is lovely and bright. I ended up spending a couple of hours here reading my book - it was great!

The menu looked so good, I really struggled with what to get...

In the end, I went for the mac n cheese, facon, and onion toastie. Who can resist mac n cheese?!

This was really tasty, and it was a good portion size as it didn't leave me feeling absolutely stuffed after all those carbs! Which of course, meant I had room for dessert...

(Who am I kidding, I would have had it anyway!)

After much deliberation, I picked the Rapper's Honeycomb Delight smoothie. They were out of brownies but were just about to make a new batch. I was given the option of choosing a different cake to top my smoothie or to wait for the fresh batch. I chose to wait (hence the slippy slidey cream in the photo). Wow, was that the right decision?! The fresh brownie was amazing (as was the smoothie itself).

I'll definitely be going back to Boho Utopia - and maybe I'll even take Mr Hatter with me next time!

I made a stop at Unicorn Grocery on the way back towards Stockport, as I had heard great things about it. It was really busy when I was there and I didn't enjoy my experience at all. It felt like I was in everyone's way (the customers) and I ended up just getting around as quickly as possible so I could leave. It looked like they had some good stock, and I would like to check out the deli on a quieter day.

I drove back over to Stockport (where I was meeting Mr Hatter later). When I got out of the car, there was a cat strolling around the car park - so naturally I went over to say hello.

Half an hour later...

Anyway, once I had been released by my furry captor, I headed back into Stockport to visit Hillgate Cakery for some treats to bring home.

My friend recently discovered this little gem when looking for a birthday cake that she could share with us. The cake was fantastic! So when I was in Stockport, I knew I had to go and get more. And just look at this Nightmare Before Christmas window display!

The staff were lovely - very friendly and we had a good chat while I was trying to decide what I wanted. (It took a while.)

This is just some of what was on offer. There was also a selection of layer cakes...

I ended up choosing two items each:

Coffee & Walnut Cake for Mr Hatter

Cherry Chocolate Cake for me

Millionaire's Shortbread and Red Velvet Cupcake - to share

These cakes were fantastic, and this will definitely be on the list every time we go to Stockport from now on!

All in all, I had a grand old day exploring. There are still a number of foodie places in the area that I want to check out (and some I want to go back to). Stockport - we will return!